Electric heater for oil-wells.



C. A. NEAL.`

ELECTRIC HEATER FOR OIL WELLS.

APPLICATION FILED IAN-5 In mIxIoz 2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

Patented Apr. 23, 1918.

IIE- l luf @Mundy C. A. NEAL.

ELECTRIC HEATER FOR OIL WELLS.

APPLICATION FILED 1AN-5| I9IB.

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` sag CHARLES AaNEAI, 0F KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI.

ELECTRIC HEATER FOB OIL-WELLS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 23, 1918.

Application led January 5, 1918. Serial No. 210,545.-

To all lwhom t may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES A. NEAL, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Kansas City, in the county of Jackson and State of Missouri, have invented new and useful Improvements in Electric Heaters for Oil-Wells, of which the following is a speciication.

This invention relates to electric heaters and has particular reference to that class of electric heaters employed in connection with oil wells. l'

An important object of the invention is t'o provide in a device of the above mentioned character a means whereby the heavy hydrocarbon which customarily forms at the bottom of oil wells may be heated to such degree as to render them capable of being easily removed therefrom, whereupon the maximum production of the well may be maintained. I l

Another'object of the invention is to provide in a device of the above mentioned character a means whereby the greatest pos` sible degree of, heat may be attained with the least possible expenditure of energy.

A further object of the invention is to provide in a device of the above mentioned character a means whereby certain hydrocarbon gaseous products which accumulate at the bottom of oil wells will be prevented from coming into direct contact with the heated device thereby preventing ignition of the same.

Another object of the invention is to provide in a device of the above mentioned character a means whereby the several units embodied in the device may be easily assembled or removed to permit the replacing of new elements for the old.

A further object of the invention is to lprovide a device of the above mentioned character which isstrong, durable, simple in construction, cheap to manufacture, and reliable in o eration,

Other o jects andl advantages of the invention will be apparent during the course of the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.

Inv the drawings, formin a part of this specification and in which l1 e numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the device embodying my invention with the shell or casing removed.

Fig. 2 is a central vertical sectional view of the same.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view of Fig. 1.

Fig. l is a sectional view of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detailed sectional view of a heating unit, and,

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view of a modied form of heating unit.

In the drawings, attention being called to Figs. 1 to 5 inclusive wherein is shown a preferred form of my invention, the numeral 10 indicates a circular plate having connection with a similar plate indicated by the numeral 11. These two plates are connected by means of a plurality of relatively long pipes 12 which are externally screw-threaded at each end and maintained in screw-threaded engagement with the plates 10 and 11 as shown at 13 and 14, respectively. Each of the pipes 12 is provlded with a cap l5 having an outwardly turned flange 16 through which screws or the like 17 are passed to retain the same in position upon the plate 10 as clearly shown in Fig. 5, Between the cap 15 and the upper end of each section of pipe 12 there is confined a suitable packing indicated by the numeral 18, which packing serves as 'a means to render an oil tight joint between the interior and exterior of the pipe 12. Withinv each section of pipe 12 there is carried an elongated porcelain filler 19 extending substantiall throughout the length of the interior of t e pipe and provided with a. pair of tongues 20 which extend upwardly through the packing 18 and the cap 15 as clearly shown in F1 s.'2 and 5. A lower end of the porcelain lil er 19 is provided with an enlarged head 21, the diameter of which is 4substantially the same as the inner diameter of the pipe 12. This head is normally maintained in engagement with' a screw-plug 22 having interna screw-threaded engagement with the interior of the pipe 12 at the lower end thereof asV shown at 23. The porcelain filler 19 is provided with a suitable coil of electrical resistance material 24, the ends of which project through the tongues 20 and terminate immediately thereabove. To one end of the resistance coil there is connected an annular metallic ring 25 while to the other end there is connected a similar ring indicated by the numeral 2 6. It will be noted when considering Fig. 3 that these annular rings 25 and 26 serve to connect in parallel the electrical resistance coils carried within the plurality of pipe sections 12. To the rings 25 and 26 there are connected suitable conductors 27 and 28, respectively, which conductors are passed through an insulating conduit 29 and connected in circuit with a suitable source of electrical energy, not shown.

Each of the plates 10 and 11 is provided centrally therein with openin s 30 and 31, respectively, to permit the devlce as a whole to be passed over a well pipe indicated by the numeral 32 through which the oil is adapted to be drawn from the bottom of the well. It might be well for me to state here that these openings 30 and 31 may be made or formed of any size to accommodate any desired size of well pipe.

In order to prevent ignition of gases which accumulate or form within oil wells, by their coming into contact with certain heated elements of the device there is'provided a suitable wire gauze 33 inclosing the device as a whole. This wire gauze is shaped to conform to the general outline of the device and is attached thereto by any suitable means. l

To the upper plate 10 there is secured an eyelet 34 to which a. cable 35 is attached in order to permit the device to be easily lowered into or withdrawn from an oil well when so desired.

In Fig. 6 I have shown a modified form of heating unit which is designed to replace the porcelain filler 19 together with a heat resisting material or coil 24 carried thereby. This modified heating units consists of the conventional form of double nitrogen lamp indicated as a whole by the numeral 36 and is provided with suitable electrical conductors carried within conduits 37 and 38 which are connected by any suitable means to a suitable source of electrical energy, not shown.

In use, the operation of the device is as follows: When it isdesired to melt the heavy, crude hydro-carbon products, such as paralhn or the like, which commonly form at the bottom of oil wells and tend to decrease the production thereof, the device as a whole is lowered into the well over the well pipe 32 by means of a cable 35. Electrical energy 1s then supplied through the conductors 27 and 28 carried within the conduit 29 to each of the heating units carried within the pipe sections 12. As a result of the electrical resistance afforded by the resistance coils 24 an intense heat will be generated within the device as a whole, which heat is transmitted to the oil within the oil well and linally to the heavy hydrocarbon products formed therein, whereupon these heavy, hydro-carbon products will be melted or liquefied, which melting or liqueaction will render them capable of being pumped to the surface of the well through the well pipe 32, whereupon the production of the well may be normally restored.

It is to be understood that various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of my invention or the scope of the, subjoined claim.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure and protelct by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

A device of the character described comprising a plurality of plates2 a plurality o pipe sections connecting said plates, caps secured to the upper plate, a packing confined between said caps and the upper end of each of said pipe sections, a porcelain filler carried within each of said pipe sections, a coil of electrical resistance material carried by each of said porcelain fillers, a screw-plug carried within an end of each of said pipe sections and adapted to engage an end of each of said porcelain fillers, u wire gauze surrounding the plurality of plates and pipe sections and means for supplying electrical energy to each coil of sald electrical resistance material.

CHARLES A. NEAL. 

